The Wall Street Journal editorial board tore into President Donald Trump over his new stunt to try to get around the standoff over funding the Department of Homeland Security.
“Before adjourning for a two-week recess, the Senate very early Friday morning reached a deal to fund DHS except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Both agencies have enough supplemental funds from last year’s tax bill to keep operating, and Republicans hope to appropriate more for them in a reconciliation bill later this year,” wrote the board, which despite its conservative lean has grown critical of Trump on a number of issues. “But House Republicans rejected the deal because they understandably don’t want to be jammed by the Senate and don’t like the precedent of partially funding agencies.”
The board actually took the GOP’s side on that — but what they didn’t like is Trump’s idea to use an executive order to pay Transportation Security Administration officials without congressional authorization.
“Enter President Trump, who on Friday afternoon ordered that money be repurposed from other government accounts to pay TSA workers,” wrote the board. “Bypassing Congress to spend money is a bad legal and political precedent and may be blocked in the courts.”
The board grudgingly admitted that the Senate’s bipartisan deal is probably the least-bad option.
“The Senate deal isn’t optimal, but it might be the best way to spare Americans from the Democrats’ bloody-minded politics,” the board concluded.
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